


The Charmed Life of Sadie Miller

by E350tb



Series: Unauthorised Tales from the Titanic [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, RMS Titanic, Titanic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 04:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17053181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: Sadie's lived a good life, really.Based on CaptainJZH's excellent 'Everything In The World Was Standing Still.'





	The Charmed Life of Sadie Miller

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Everything In The World Was Standing Still](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15479709) by [CaptainJZH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/pseuds/CaptainJZH). 



**The Charmed Life of Sadie Miller**

Sadie Miller was by no means rich, or even really middle-class.

She had been born up north in County Durham, in the heart of coal country. Her father was an ex-miner who now worked as a smith, building lanterns and tools for the miners. It meant they had a small apartment above the shop, which was better than most miners at the time. Sure, the back overlooked the North Eastern Railway main line to Scotland, which meant that if you left the window open you let in steam and ash, but it wasn’t at all bad.

She buried her father when she was eight - Clancy Miller ended up in a small, weathered grave at the local church. His wife didn’t take much time to mourn - she took over the business, and worked had to keep Sadie in the local school. There she learned basic reading and mathematics, if not much else.

Her first job came at fifteen, employed at the restaurant at the local railway station. It wasn’t terribly exciting, but it helped pay the bills - and the manager soon caught on to a talent of hers.

“‘Ere, yer mother tells me ye can sing, like. ‘Ow ‘bout ye perform on Fridays for the railway blokes?”

“Well, I don’t know…”

“Put it this way; if ye don’t, ye know where the door is.”

Sadie suspected that might be a joke, but she didn’t want to test her luck.

So, every Friday, Sadie would sit in the corner with an old, battered guitar and sing for the patrons of the restaurant. Mostly it was tame stuff, popular music and songs, but occasionally she’d throw in her own compositions. She learnt little tricks, like to time key changes for when trains blew their whistles to leave the station. It wasn’t a bad job.

Eventually, she got noticed.

The American man who took her aside was balding, and resembled an aged shark in many ways. He made a variety of claims - “My father worked with PT Barnum!” “I own three buildings in Manhattan!” “J. Peirpont Morgan’s a personal friend!” Sadie doubted them, but she didn’t doubt his management offer. “Cross the Atlantic with me,” he said, “And I’ll make you a _star._ ”

Maybe he was a predator, but she couldn’t help but be tempted. She spoke with her mother.

“He’s probably a snake,” Barbara Miller nodded, “But he can get you in the door. If he’s paying your way to New York City, I say take it.”

And so it was arranged. The man - Marty - would sail first on the _Olympic_ to set things up, and Sadie would follow in Third Class on the _Titanic…_

* * *

Third Class on the _Titanic_ , it seemed, was a world away from what she’d lived in in County Durham. Sure, there was noise and vibration from the ship’s mighty boilers, but that was nothing compared to the evening ‘Flying Scotsman’ pelting past your back window every night, it’s whistle screaming as it desperately pounded the rails. No, compared to such things, the _Titanic_ was practically _soothing_.

She found herself sharing a cabin on F Deck with two sisters, Jenny and Kiki, who seemed nice enough; they were bound to Delaware to join their father and grandmother. On the way to dinner that first night, she found herself caught in a brief conversation with a rather interesting young woman about her various escapades across Europe, but she soon returned to the company of her cabinmates (who included a somewhat perturbed-looking mother, her husband and young daughter.) When dinner came, she found herself alone.

She had just finished, and was preparing to make her way back to her cabin when she locked eyes with a young man across the way. He stood out like a sore thumb, even in a place so diverse as Third Class - his eyes were somewhat sunken, and he had a nasty scar over one of them. His clothes were battered and worn, and it seemed the other passengers were avoiding him. She couldn’t help but sense pain in his eyes.

She didn’t quite know why, but she found herself offering this young man a small smile. The man seemed taken aback, glancing behind him in search of another person who must surely be the planned recipient of this gesture - he blushed slightly when he realised it was him.

He turned and smiled awkwardly back.

As night fell, and the _Titanic_ sailed its way through the Channel and up the Irish Sea towards Queenstown, Sadie slept fitfully in her bunk, unable to shake this strange, lonely person from the back of her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Not quite as unlucky as Lars, then - yet.


End file.
